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September 2017

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Amid a slump in the broader industry, the Chinese textile industry has put up a great display at the 17th edition of its annual Textile and Apparel Trade Show in its biggest market, the United States.

The exhibition is aimed at reinvigorating the industry, which has seen slowing customer demand over the past several years, the organisers said on Tuesday, the opening day of the three-day event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, New York.

It has been no easy task to ensure the growth and success of this trade show at a time when the international textile industry is experiencing a historic reshaping in terms of supply chains and purchasing power," observed Gao Yong, vice-president of China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC).

The mega-show is running concurrently at the Javits with other trade shows Texworld USA, Apparel Sourcing and Home Textiles Sourcing. It features more than 800 textile and fabric companies from 20 countries, 569 of which are from China.

More than any other market, a high-quality one like the US calls for top suppliers, Gao said adding that Chinese textile suppliers had always paid attention to the demands of their clientele.

As labour costs in China grow and many clothing companies shift their workforce to other Asian countries such as Vietnam, Pakistan and Bangladesh, China's textile exports have declined. However, US is the only country where its textile exports have been steady — there was a 1.5 % increase in exports in 2015 over 2014, according to California Apparel News.

Last year, Chinese textile exports fell for the first time in six years, dropping 5 % to $ 286.8 billion. Exports to the European Union fell 10.6 % year-on-year and to Japan by 12 %. Exports to ASEAN countries fell 1.7 %, according to customs data from China.

Nonetheless, US is still China's top textile partner, with those exports accounting for 17.2 % of the country's total exports. The shipments make up 38 % of the US market, Gao said.

Zhang Qiyue, China's consul general in New York, said that textiles and apparel particularly reflect the "growing business ties between the US and China". In the period from 2000 to 2015, bilateral textile and apparel trade grew from $ 6.2 billion to $ 48.5 billion, she said.

The organisers of the event are China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Specialized Textile and Apparel and Messe Frankfurt. (SH)